Buddhism in mainland China suffered greatly under the hands of the Communist Party of China. It is now supervised by the state and while there are monks, the government discourages party members from participating in any religion at all. China is a very secular society and the government there sees religion in a negative light. Buddhism in mainland China is predominately Chinese where sects don't really exist. Chan and Pure Land are both practiced together.

Taiwan on the other hand is quite religious and people get involved with various organizations quite happily and readily. You see religion icons in government offices, too. There is complete freedom and it shows. There is not just Chinese Buddhism in Taiwan, but also Tibetan Buddhist and Theravada as well as some Japanese schools.

Much of Kham is now considered part of Qinghai and Sichuan, Tibetan Buddhism is quite strong there and in the chos gar established by famed tertons like Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok and Khenpo Achuk, I think there is no government influence. There are also apparently quite a few Chinese people going to Larung Gar. You might want to read some of Antonio Terrone's papers -- just search for his name and you should get to his faculty site at the Northwestern University site with some of the full papers.

Ayu wrote:Thank you both very much. Are there Lamas teaching tibetean Buddhism in mainland China?Or are the teachers of different traditions also called "Lama" ?

Whether or not one includes Tibet as part of China, yes there are lamas teaching Tibetan Buddhism in China. Other traditions don't use this term, but - and this is a guess from me - the Ladhakis, Mongolians and Nepalese may have an equivalent term.

all of buddhist organizations in main land China must Join "Chinese Buddhist assocation" which is a member of politics negotiation association controlled by Party. all of religious estates, sites belong to government. in Chinese Buddhist assocition has three main traditions. one is Han Chinese buddhism, the second is Tibetan buddhism, the third is theravada buddhism practiced by Dai people(the cousin of Lao and Thai) i've heard Tibetan buddhism and Theravada buddhism still are very strong there in ethnic base. even though higly oppressed, Tibetan buddhism still has over 100thousand monks which is the half of han Chinese buddhism. Theravada has 10thousand monks even though the population of Dai is only 1 million. and i've read an aticle saying, being short term monk is very common in Dai community, many boys quit primary school to be monk, so government released warning...

don't know much about Tibetan, theravada, but the number of Han Chinese monks is controlled. there is the quarter for ordination a year. but i think buddhism in Chinese society still has strong influence. even if many of them are not active buddhists. and it seemed that Tibetan Buddhism is gaining popularity in Han Chinese middle class yuppies and the educated nowadays. when i went to China, i found that Tibetan influence is in everywhere, when it comes to buddhism. even many dharma goods sold in famous Zen temples have very thick tibetan flabours - the beed, music, miniatures of the mandala-

and it seemed that, Chinese buddhism is regaining its popularity. the one is : as the national pridd increase, many Chinese Came to be intereted buddhism as their cultural pride, and it fully deserves that. the second is: commercialization and tour, leasure industry imade Chinese people contact buddhism more than before.the third is meditation boom. many zen temples restored traditional retreat, closed retreat, practitons, and opened zen schools for laities.and publishing of dhamma books incresed enormously, i was in awe when i went to buddhist section in a book store

Bill Porter wrote a book a year or two ago called "Zen Baggage." He visited monasteries and other historical sites across mainland China to report on how monastic Buddhism is faring there. And the answer is, pretty well. There are monasteries for monks and nuns with qualified teachers where genuine practice is going on that are not just museums for the tourists.

Jinzang wrote:Bill Porter wrote a book a year or two ago called "Zen Baggage." He visited monasteries and other historical sites across mainland China to report on how monastic Buddhism is faring there. And the answer is, pretty well. There are monasteries for monks and nuns with qualified teachers where genuine practice is going on that are not just museums for the tourists.

Good point. First time visitors, or visitors without any local contacts, will just be led to touristy type monasteries, but there are a huge number that are really out on the fringes, where the Path is practiced with little or no intrusion from other agencies. But, one has to be in the know...

here is a Chinese from mainland, study in HKU, Buddhist center from this September.

If you guys could bear my poor English, I would love to tell you as much as I know, and if i don't know I would love to ask my friends home.

Although Buddhism in China was damaged by Culture Revolution and even worse damaged by the economic reform, Chinese people in cities are becoming rich and young generation with good education all come to the cities, lost their connect with the family... generally, what I try to say is people feels nervous and unsafe need the sweet rain of Dharma eagerly. As we all know, Dharma is not something could be restrict by a political system or a communist party etc, even in culture revolution there was really ...great monks such as Master Liang Qing http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%87%8A%E8%89%AF%E5%8D%BF Master FaZun, who still did translation work on the morning of the day passed away. http://xmwk.zgfj.cn/e/action/ShowInfo.php?classid=936&id=41348:bow:

And thank , in the last thousands years Buddhism is already an organic part of Chinese Culture and people's life, it is also not something could possilbly erased in 60 years, right? I think the future of Chinese buddhism is not only positive, but ...great positive.

And thank Taiwan , Master XingYun settled library in YangZhou, his home town since 2005, It works totally the same as a temple and college. and culture company in Shanghai. and finally a realy temple! it would have the third summer retreat for this year! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yZnnTpx9S0 and not only HKU and CUHK, many universities in China benifits from FoGuangShan Tzuchi, helped people...suffered of...big water...in 1991 and finally became the official NGO worked in China from overseas in 2011. here is link what they do in shanghai http://www.tzuchi.org.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=74&Itemid=370 . And my friend told me, here in Hongkong, there is a group or center, would sent books, which are impossible to find in china, to people who need them for free. I'm not sure yet. What's more, TNH visited China almost 30 years ago, http://www.bailinsi.net/03shc/04gwsb/007.htm. people lucky met him that time, now settle up vegetarian union or even temple for Chan meditation. BTW, most universities have their own students union related to Buddhism or Chan. 'Tea-house" (since temple have so many restricts, people gathering together in a tea house or someone's home to study and practice Buddhism) may be one of the character of Chinese Buddhism now or in the future. also some celebrates tell people their religion and try to ...promote Buddhism, such as Jet Li， Faye Wong etc.

Back to Ayu's question, there is a huge influence lama, Khenpo Sodargye Rinpoche. he has a ...college that have hundred thousands students in shanghai, beijing, guangzhou...you may find more information here http://www.khenposodargye.org/ and I have some friends, one server in the army, are his students. Also Master Jiqun also have similar college but in Mahayana tradition. What's more, Master JingHui hold summer retreat of college students for 19 years! BTW, as far as I know, there was 31 summer retreats last year. http://www.douban.com/group/topic/39257209/

HappyChan339 wrote:....Back to Ayu's question, there is a huge influence lama, Khenpo Sodargye Rinpoche. he has a ...college that have hundred thousands students in shanghai, beijing, guangzhou...you may find more information here http://www.khenposodargye.org/ and I have some friends, one server in the army, are his students. Also Master Jiqun also have similar college but in Mahayana tradition. What's more, Master JingHui hold summer retreat of college students for 19 years! BTW, as far as I know, there was 31 summer retreats last year. http://www.douban.com/group/topic/39257209/

What lineage is Lama Khenpo Sodargye Rinpoche?I heard, there are many Sakya or Nyingma?